• Pitt will play its 2014 ACC opener on the road and in the ESPN national television spotlight when it meets Boston College on Friday night. The Panthers are coming off a resounding 62-0 season-opening victory over Delaware. The Eagles rolled over Massachusetts, 30-7, in their debut.

• Pitt and Boston College will be meeting for the first time in 10 years. The schools played annually from 1993-2004 as members of the Big East. The Panthers have a three-game winning streak in the series, defeating the Eagles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Two of those wins were overtime decisions (2002 and 2004).

• Pitt featured a punishing rushing attack in the Delaware victory, piling up 409 yards on the ground. It was the Panthers’ highest single-game rushing total since the Tony Dorsett era of the mid-1970s.

• The catalyst for Pitt’s running game is 6-foot-2, 250-pound sophomore James Conner, who had 153 yards and four TDs in the opener. Boston College also has a dangerous runner in senior dual-threat quarterback Tyler Murphy. A graduate transfer from Florida, Murphy rushed for 118 yards and threw for 173 in his debut vs. Massachusetts.

• The Panthers are fielding one of their youngest rosters in memory. Pitt went through training camp with 81 underclassmen (53 freshmen and 28 sophomores), the highest total of any Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team in the country.

• The Panthers are celebrating their 125th season of intercollegiate football competition in 2014. Pitt played its inaugural season in 1890 and has an all-time record of 691-503-42.

Pitt-Boston College History in Brief

Series Began: 1959

Series Overall: Pitt leads 16-13

ACC Series: First ACC meeting

Big East Series (1993-2004): BC leads 7-5

At Pittsburgh: Pitt leads 9-6

At Boston College: Series tied 7-7

At Neutral Sites: 0-0

OT Games: Pitt leads 2-0

Last Meeting: Oct. 16, 2004 (Pitt won in OT, 20-17)

Current Series Win Streak: Pitt has won 3 (2002-04)

Longest Pitt Series Win Streak: 8 games (1972-81)

Longest BC Series Win Streak: 4 games (1991, 1993-95)

Largest Pitt Margin of Victory: 38 points (45-7, 1977)

Largest BC Margin of Victory: 38 points (45-7, 2001)

Pitt-Boston College Series Notes

This marks the 30th meeting between Pitt and Boston College in a series that dates back to 1959...the Panthers and Eagles were annual Big East foes from 1993-2004...the 2014 encounter marks the first Atlantic Coast Conference game between the two schools...the Panthers lead the all-time series, 16-13, and have won the past three meetings...Pitt needed overtime to defeat the Eagles at Heinz Field in both 2002 (19-16) and 2004 (20-17)...in its last visit to Chestnut Hill (2003), Pitt defeated Boston College, 24-13...the ‘03 game marked Pitt’s first win at Boston College since a 29-10 decision in 1989, snapping a five-game losing streak in Alumni Stadium...Larry Fitzgerald scored the decisive TD in the 2003 game off a 35-yard halfback option pass...it was Fitzgerald’s 14th consecutive game with a TD catch, setting an NCAA record (he would increase the mark to 18 consecutive games, still an NCAA record)...six of the last nine Pitt-BC games have been decided by eight points or less...four of the last eight were decided by four points or less (2004, 2002, 1999 and 1997).